NABUNTURAN, Compostela Valley (PIA) - A new day has come for the people in Purok 4, Barangay Rizal in Monkayo town, Compostela Valley as the villagers finally felt that the government did not abandon them.
At the height of communist insurgency, Rizal served as a base of the New People’s Army. They had their own mayor of the Komiting Rebolusyonaryo sa Munisipalidad (KRM) and they had their own rules. Out of fear, absolutely no government worker had attempted to enter and engage the village.
According to the Army, the periphery of the village used to be the encounter site of the NPA and government forces. The area was also the gravesite of two unidentified bodies believed to be liquidated by the communists.
This came to an end when, due to pressure and uncertainty in the underground movement, one by one the villagers surrendered to the Army last year, including their own mayor.
From then on, former KRM mayor Raul Camporedondo noted that numerous government projects and services were delivered to their community.
Asked to enumerate those projects, Camporedondo said that first thing that was addressed was the roads. Prior to their surrender, there was no road to the village, he said.
According to Lt. Col. Oscar Balignasay, commander of the 25th Infantry Battalion, they helped the former rebels organize themselves into Pag-asa Multi-Purpose Cooperative. The cooperative was able to get fund worth P1.5 million under the National Greening Program for planting and maintenance of a 38-hectare falcata plantation.
Those were just the start of the positive developments in the area.
Then, on rainy July 12, the Oplan Pagbabago – Tunol Serbisyo brought more than 20 government agencies with services that the villagers had requested.
It included medical and dental services conducted by the Provincial Health Office and the Army, registration of birth from the local government unit and Philippine Statistics Authority, and processing of applications for a driver’s license from the Land Transportation Office.
For livelihood, the Provincial Agriculture Office and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources distributed fruit bearing trees, while the Department of Agriculture turned over a rice harvester. The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources also gave tilapia fingerlings.
The Rizal Tagbawi Sustainable Livelihood Project Pamana Association received from the Department of Social Welfare and Development a check worth P300,000 for its general merchandise store.
The children were also provided with school supplies from the Department of Education and slippers from the Compostela Valley Provincial Police Office.
The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and the Army brought barbers who offered free haircut services.
The crowd were also delighted with the healthy snacks from the Department of Science and Technology.
Other offices like the Department of Agrarian Reform, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, Philippine Coconut Authority, Public Attorney’s Office and Department of Labor and Employment delivered consultation and orientation services.
On the part of the municipal government, Mayor Ramil Gentugaya promised to give a power generator set and a vehicle for emergency response.
Gentugaya said the generator set may not totally answer the need of the villagers but this may help for the meantime until the Davao del Norte Electric Cooperative can find a feasible way to energize the area.
The government agencies were reinforced by Sumifru and Red Cross, which offered their services to the villagers.
Camporendo was overwhelmed by the government services that his village received that day that he could only blurted out, "Salamat sa pag-anhi dinhi ug sa paghatag kanamo ug maayong panginabuhian." (Thank you for coming here and for giving us livelihood.)
Josephine Frasco, provincial social welfare and development officer and action officer of Oplan Pagbabago, disclosed that the Tunol Serbisyo will not be the last time that their group will visit the village.
“Dili lang ni one-shot deal. Ipadayon lang gihapon namo ni hangtod sa ma-empowered ang mga barangays o ang Purok 4 sa Barangay Rizal,” she said. (This is not a one-shot deal. We will continue this until the barangays or the Purok 4 of Barangay Rizal are empowered.)
Frasco revealed that Rizal is just one of the 52 barangays that will be visited by the Oplan Pagbabago until next year.
The Oplan Pagbabago is a program launched by the provincial government to complement the Enhanced Comprehensive Livelihood Integrated Program of the national government. It aims to address the needs of the communities in geographically isolated, depressed, and conflict affected areas.
With Eexecutive Order 70 of President Rodrigo Duterte, the program will be intensified as it will be transformed into an Oplan Pagbabago Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict. (PIA-11)
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